Towel cabinet



g 1939- w. L. SYLVESTER TOWEL CABINET Filed Sept. 17, 1936 4 Shets-Sheet 1 m Y 05 E T 1N N R E m N T 1 A M .W..B

2, 1939. w. SYLVESTER 2,170,223

TQWEL CABINET Fi ed Sept. 17, 1936 4 sheetssheet 2 INVENTOR Mil/4M1. 572K557? J AT RNEY Aug. 22, 1939. w. L. SYLVESTER 2,170,223

TOWEL CABINET Filed Sept. 17', 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet a ATTORNEY n m w m w w v, N J I m m u W m Q. m m J% m w Q \Q 1% W Q A. w l \Q\ m a u w Q r w m Aug- 22, 1939- w. L. SYLVESTER TOWEL CABINET Filed Sept. 17, 19156 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Aug. 22, 1939 2,170,223

UNITED STATES iATENT OFFICE TOWEL CABINET William L. Sylvester, Lyndhurst, N. J.

Application September 17, 1936, Serial No. 101,186

11 Claims. (Cl. 31238) This invention relates to towel cabinets. Figure 1 is a top plan view of a cabinet involv- This invention is a substitution in part fo-rmy ing this invention. prior application Serial #355,034, filed August 7, Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof.

1935. It is an object of this invention to provide Figure 3 is a side elevation of the operating a towel cabinet for the handling of towels of the mechanism with the casing removed. 5

continuous roller variety; in which a portion of Figure 4 is a side elevation similar to Figure 3,

the towel is unrolled from the supply at each but with the mechanism at a different point in time of use, and at the end of the use, a portion the operating cycle,

is re-rolled upon a take-up roller. Figure 5 is a central section along the line 55 It is an object of this invention to provide a of Figure 1. 10

mechanism of the character described which will Figures 6, 7, and 8 are fragmentary views showfaithfully feed a predetermined quantity of towel ing the take-up roller release mechanism in three at each use, the portionof the towel for use being different DOSitiOI'IS Of Operationtaken from the supply, without danger of con- In the drawings, the humeral Comprises a tinuously back feeding th s t w 1 so th t cabinet adapted to be attached to the wall, havthe same portion would be used over and over ing hinged ere o at H a C'Ov 12 Which y be again, held closed by suitable fastening device l3. The It is a further object to provide a towel device towel pp n ni m is carried y h or the character described which will be rugged cabinet and the cover s p vid d w a p in construction and reliable in operation. ing through W ch ab t 0f the towel 20 It is a further object to provide a towel device may be ended and this p nin is protected of the character described which will withdraw by 0 1 5 substantially the entire towel within the cabinet The towel supp rt n and f d m hanism after use, except so much as is necessary to ena- 18 carried y a p of brackets at each Side b le the operator to grasp the towel when use is of the b The toweling d feed meoh- 5 d i anism comprises generally a roll of clean towel It is a further object to provide a cabinet from IT, a clean towel d roll l8, a p f servi e which a greater length of towel may be withrods l9 and 2! adapted to carry between them drawn t 111 be soiled by th providing the bight of the towel for service, a pull-in dean idle stretch of toweling to and from the ma-o vice a us d t w l f d roll and a r of 30 chine that is for the time not in use, together soiled tOWel with mechanism for taking the entire bight back The Clean towel r011 is Supported p a into the machine, without the necessity of feed- Shelf 24 carried by Kids 25 and 26 d ng ing a stretch of towel greater than the part actubetween the brackets and a guide p ate 27 ally used. This is accomplished by releasing pivoted about a d 28 a so Carried by the brack- 35 from the cabinet enough of the soiled towel to ets Hi The shelf 24 slants w a d y toward form one idle stretch, While at the same time front, and the guide plate 21 Slants downinsuring a feed sufficient to give fresh towel for Wardly toward the real", forming between them actuaJ a trough in which the roll of toweling may rest.

It is a further object to provide a cabinet of The feed r011 is jourhaled in the brackets 40 the character described which will prevent'the and a pressure r011 29 is mounted p the feeding of the previously exposed portion of the rear ends of o s 3o jourhaled t0 th main towel until the mechanism has been released to frame Gil-axially With the rod 23 and ving permit t feeding of a freshportion; their rear ends connected by springs 3i to the 4-5 Th invention 'accOrdingIy comprises th feamain frame whereby the pressure roll 29 is held tures of construction, combination of elements, into resilient e e t W th the feed r011 l8. and arrangements of parts, which will be exem- The roll I! is placed in the machine with the plified in the construction hereinafter set forth free end of the towel extending from the underand the, scope of the application of which will be side of the roll toward the front. It is carried indicated in the claims. over the rod 28 around the feed roll l8, between 50 For a fuller understanding of the nature and that r011 d e p e u e r011 29 and then D- objects of the invention, reference should be had Wardly over a movable control rod 32, the purto the following detailed. description, taken in pose of which will be later described, in front of connection with the accompanying drawings, in and beneath the service rod l9, then over and 55. which: back of the service rod 20 to the pull-in device 2|.

The pull-in device comprises a roller 33 having pivots 35 moving in slots 35, cut in the brackets 16. These slots being generally curved, preferably having their upper portions nearly vertical, and their lower portions inclined backwardly. The portion of the towel between the two feed rolls [8 and 22 being carried around the roller 33 is kept under tension by the weight of the roller 33. When the bight I5 is released by hand at the end of the use, the roller falls to the bottom end of the slot taking up the toweling and pulling it into the cabinet, but

when the toweling is being pulled from the cabinet, the tension of the towel raises the roller by moving the pivots to the upper ends of the slot. Thus the roller forms an internal bight l5, corresponding to the external bight i5.

The towel coming from the pull-in device is carried over a guide rod 35 and then backwardly over the used towel feed roll 22. This latter feed roll is journaled in a pair of levers 3?, which levers in turn are pivoted to the main frame coaxially with the feed roll it and arcuate slots 33 are cut in the brackets to receive the journals of the feed roll 22 and thereby permit the levers 3! to move about the axis of the clean towel feed roll it to carry the used towel feed roll 22 with them toward and from the used towel 23. The surface of both 'feed rolls. is preferably roughened. It will be clear that as the roller 33 comes in contact with the rods 20 and 36 when the bight is fully withdrawn, the toweling is locked against further withdrawal.

The roll 23 of used towel may be carried upon a wooden roller having journals 39 turning in notches it in. the main frame, and the purpose of the pivoting of the feed roll 22 is to permit the surface of that roller to bear against the siu'face of the used towel on. the roll 23 at all times so to turn the latter to wind up the used: towel as the feed roll 22 is rotated. A spring 4! connects the free end of the levers 3? with the bracket it to hold the feed roller 22 in contact with the surface of the roll of. used toweling 23.

Means are provided to insure the co-ordination between the movement of the clean towel feed roll and the used towel feed roll, comprising, in the form illustrated, a sprocket wheel 42 on. the shaft of the clean towel feed roll connected by a chain d3 to a sprocket it on the shaft of the used towel feed roll to insure that the peripheral movement of the two rollers shall be at all times identical, thus insuring that the length of toweling available for use shall be invariable. A ratchet @5 upon the shaft of the used towel feed roll 22 cooperates with a pawl 46 upon the main frame to insure that the feed roll may not be moved in the reverse direction.

Means are provided upon the device for insuring that whenever toweling is pulled from the device for use, that the portion actually to be used will be fresh. This means that the bight 15 will include the same pie-determined amount of clean toweling each time without danger that the same portion of towel will be repeatedly withdrawn from the machine from the pull-in device. It is desirable to permit more toweling to be withdrawn in the bight l5 than will actually be soiled, since only the central portion of the bight is convenient to use. Thus, it is possiibleto permit an idle portion of the toweling to be withdrawn on each end of the bight before and after the portion. intended for use, while still presenting fresh toweling for use. 7

- This system insures the maximum convenience to the user consistent with every portion of the towel being used and no portion being used more than once.

To accomplish these results there is mounted upon the brackets It, a device for locking the release of the pull-in device comprising an arm 5 having pivoted thereto a dog 5| having a weighted portion 52, normally to hold the dog across the slots 35 in the pathway of the pivots 34 of the roller 33. The purpose of this dog is to permit the pivots 34 to move backwardly through the slot by the mere tilting of the dogs 5|. A stop 53 is provided tolimit the reverse movement of the dog so that the pivots 34 may not be moved forwardly except by the movement of the arms 59 about their pivots.

The rod 32 is loosely journaled in levers 54 pivoted to the main frame, and this rod also extends through slots 55 in upwardly extending brackets 55 upon. the brackets Iii so that the rod 32 is guided for vertical movement by the slots 55. but this vertical movement is accompanied by a rotation of the levers 54 about their pivots.

These levers 54 are arranged to control the lock and release of the arms 50 through a suitable lever mechanism, which, as illustrated, comprises a bell crank lever 51 pivoted to the rear of the bracket H3 having one arm connected by a link 58 with one arm of the lever 54, and having its other arm anchored to the frame by a link 59 and spring 50, the strength of the spring being such as normally to raise the movable rod 32 to its uppermost position.

A link 6i has a pivot 62 moving in a slot 63 in the link 59 and has pivoted at its other end at 34, an arm E5 which in turn is pivoted to the bracket It at 66. This arm 65 has an inter-locking surface 61 adapted to engage the free end 68 of the arm 59 to limit the movement of the arm 59 except when. the arm 65 is raised and the latter arm may also have a projecting finger 59 to extend over the end of the arm 50 to limit the downward movement of the arm 65 when the link 59 is in its lowermost position.

With this construction there is rather extensive movement of the link 59 as the mechanism is operated, and only a very small movement is required of the arm 55. This difference is taken care of by the lost motion provided by the slot 63.

When the towel is first fed through the machine in the manner described, it is wound on the used towel roll to the point when the roller 33 is at the bottom of its slot, the toweling being substantially taut between the rods l9 and 20, so that no appreciable amount of the towel will extend downwardly out of the front of the machine.

In normal operation, when the stretch of toweling between the rods i9 and 29 is grasped by the hands, the upper reach of the towel first depresses the rod 32 and gives a small length of towel. At the same time the lower reach of the towel raises the roller 33 until its pivots. engage the dog 51, since at this time the locking arm 65 has been freed by the depression of the movable rod 32, the'pivots slide past the dog releasing the roller 22. The further pulling out of the towel, therefore, feeds a certain stretch of toweling from the fresh towel supply and releases substantially the same amount of toweling from the internal bight by raising the roller 33 to the topof its slot. This action operates the feed rollers to wind up the under side of the toweling coming from the roller 33, by the roller 22, which is being forcibly rotated through the medium of the chain 43 by the unrolling of the fresh towel supply roller.

It will thus be seen that the supply of toweling for use cannot be wholly withdrawn. from the internal bight by pulling up the roller 33 in its groove, since this is prevented by the dog 5|. The roller 33 is only released for movement when the tension on the stretch of clean toweling on the roller 32 corresponds to that which is required for operating the mechanism. It is thus impossible to put the fingers into the b ight and pull out the soiled toweling reeving the toweling over the fingers. The toweling can only be removed when it is subjected to a tension which requires a firm grasp of the cloth and thus it is insured thateach withdrawal of the towel will be accompanied by a re-wind of a portion. of soiled toweling and an unwind of clean toweling. The parts may be so proportioned as to feed different quantities of toweling, but in general it is not necessary that .all of the toweling which is withdrawn from the machine shall be re-wound. upon the used towel roller. The user will soil only the central portion of the exposed toweling and if the entire free bight of the towel were immediately fed under the take-up roll, it would unnecessarily include a large portion of the towel surface which had not been used. It is preferable, therefore, to adjust the feed to an amount substantially equal to the actual quantity of toweling which is to be soiled. It is possible, therefore, to utilize the first portion of the bight for one using as the used portion of the bight for the subsequent using and still not present to any user the soiled toweling for use.

With the above construction, it will be observed that the mechanism provides fresh toweling for each userand definitely prevents the toweling being fed to present soiled toweling, and at the same time it is economical of the toweling, moreover, the mechanism is simple and reliable to operate.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above ,description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

One of the important features of this device is that it affords a practical cabinet in which the toweiing is readily available at any time desired, 'but which has no toweling either clean or soiled visible at any time, except during use. This is a practical feature of importance, which, so far as applicant is aware, has never been in use.

It will also be noted that the operation of the mechanism is such as to prevent the re-use of the same towel since the soiled toweling is automatically fed back into the machine as soon as released, and when new toweling is taken for use, the surface portion of it must necesarily be clean towel. This prevents any person, even one unable to read instructions, from becoming infected by the use of soiled toweling.

Where a portion of the towel is permanently exposed for use, subject to replacement when desired, many persons wiping their hands hurriedly, use the protruding portion without taking the trouble to feed new towel through the machine.

Under such circumstances, the user himself uses the soiled towel and leaves the doubly soiled towel for the next comer to use. The possibility of such action is entirely eliminated by this machine by reason of the fact that this machine causes the total disappearance of all the towel portion previously exposed, whether used or unused, into a separate and distinct compartment of the locked towel case and it definitely releases on each using an amount of toweling sufiicient completely to replace the portion of the towel which has been used.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A towel cabinet comprising a casing having an opening for the withdrawal therethrough of a night of clean towel, a clean towel feed roll and a soiled-towel feed roll geared together for operation. in unison, a pull-in device for pulling into the casing an exposed bight of towel to form an internal bight within the casing, means for looking said pull-in device to prevent withdrawal of said internal bight, a member positioned to engage the towel between the clean towel supply and the external bight and movable by tension thereon and a connection operable by said movement to release said locking means to permit withdrawal of towel from said internal bight while towel is being drawn from the clean towel supply, whereby said internal bight is in part fed to the soiled towel supply and is in part released to form a portion of a new exposed bight.

2. A towel cabinet comprising a casing having an opening for the withdrawal therethrough of a bight of clean towel, a supply of clean towel and a feed roll controlling the feed of toweling from said supply, a soiled towel supply and a feed roll for controlling the feeding of soiled toweling to said soiled towel supply, means operatively connecting said rolls causing them to operate in unie son, said clean towel supply being adapted to be operated by the withdrawal of a loight of toweling through said opening, means for pulling said b-ight of toweling into the casing after use to form an internal bight and means for locking said pull-in device and means responsive to the tension on the clean towel feed for releasing said locking means during the feeding of clean towel.

3. towel cabinet comprising a casing having an opening for the withdrawal therethrough of a length of clean towel, a feed roll engaging the clean towel, a take-up roll engaging the soiled towel, means operatively connecting said rolls for effecting their operation in. unison, a gravity acting pull-in device, in the form of a roll, loosely engaging the towel intermediate the feed and take-up rolls and operable to be raised to active position by the towel upon the withdrawal of the latter from the casing and to thereafter drop and pull the soiled towel into the casing upon the release thereof by the user without re-rolling the same, and retarding means, in the form of a pair of pivotally mounted arms engaging the opposite ends of the pull-in device, operative to exert a temporary pressure against said pull-in device, a spring held latch to lock said arms and releasing means operable to release said latch under the pull of the engaged towel upon the withdrawal from the casing of the succeeding length of clean towel.

4. A towel cabinet as described in claim 3, wherein said arms are provided at their free ends with by-pass members extending across the path of the pull-in device, said members being mounted to permit of the free movement of the pull-in device past the same in one direction and to temporarily resist the movement of said device in the opposite direction.

5. A towel cabinet comprising a clean towel roll and a soiled towel roll, a feed device associated with the clean towel roll and a feed de-' vice associated with the soiled towel roll, said feed devices being connected to be operated in unison, means for supporting a bight of towel in position to extend out of said cabinet, a pull-in roller adapted to withdraw said bight to the interior of said cabinet comprising a vertically movable roll, means for obstructing the raising of said roll and locking means for said obstructing means, a guide rod movably mounted within said cabinet over which the clean towel supply is carried, spring means for moving said rod in opposition to the tension of the towel and adapted to yield when the towel is pulled and means actuated by the yielding of said rod to unlock the said locking means.

6. A towel cabinet having a support for a roll of clean towel, means for re-rolling the soiled towel, a pull-in device for pulling into the cabinet and releasing, as required, a usable length of towel between the supply and the re-rolling device and means for co-ordinating the pull-in device with the fresh towel feed mechanism to lock the pull-in device against withdrawal to prevent the release of toweling from the pull-in device, and means operable by the feeding of fresh towel to release said locking means when toweling is being taken from the fresh towel supply.

'7. A towel cabinet having a support for a roll of clean towel, means for re-rolling the soiled towel, a pull-in device for pulling into the cabinet and releasing, as required, a usable length of towel between the supply and the re-rolling device, and means for locking the pull-in device, and means operated by the feeding of towel from the fresh towel supply to release said locking means.

8. A towel cabinet comprising in combination a fresh towel supply and a'used towel roll, a takeup device for withdrawing into the machine a bight of toweling after use comprising a roller movable in a slide, a dog movable into the pathway of said slide to prevent the movement of said roller therein, locking mechanism to prevent the release of said dog, a means associated with a supply of clean towel for releasing said dog when tension is applied on a clean towel.

9. A towel cabinet comprising in combination a fresh towel supply and a used towel roll, a take-up device for withdrawing into the machine abight of toweling after use comprising a roller movable in a slide, a dog movable into the pathway of said slide to prevent the movement of said roller therein, locking mechanism to prevent the release of said dog, a rod over which clean toweling is carried and spring means for moving said rod against the normal tension of the towel, and lever mechanism connecting said rod with said locking means whereby when said rod is moved against the tension of its spring by the towel, the locking means is released.

10. A towel cabinet comprising in combination a pair of brackets, a trough carried by said brackets to receive a supply of clean towel, journals upon said brackets to receive a roll for used towel, a feed roll for fresh towel and a feed roll for used towel, said last mentioned feed roll being journaled to bear resiliently upon the surface of the roll of used towel, gearing connecting said feed rolls causing them to operate in unison, rollers for supporting said towel between the towel supply and the roll of used towel including surface rods to support a bight of towel for use outside the cabinet, a roller sliding in guides in said brackets for withdrawing said bight jof toweling into the interior of the cabinet, a dog for obstructing the movement of said roll to prevent the re-delivery of the same portion of the towel repeatedly for use, an arm to which said dog is pivoted, said dog being freely movable in one direction but not in the other, and means for locking said arm releasable by tension upon the clean towel.

11. A towel cabinet comprising in combination a pair of brackets, a trough carried by said brackets to receive a supply of clean towel, journals upon said brackets to receive a roll for used towel, a feed roll for fresh towel and a feed roll for used towel, said last mentioned feed roll being journaled-to bear resiliently upon the surface of the roll of used towel, gearing connecting said feed rolls causing them to operate in unison, rollers for supporting said towel between the towel supply and the roll of used. towel including surface rods to support a bight of towel for use outside the cabinet, a roller sliding in guides in said brackets for withdrawing said bight of toweling into the interior of the cabinet, a dog for obstructing the movement of said roll to prevent the re-delivery of the same portion of the towel repeatedly for use, an arm to which said dog is pivoted, said dog being freely movable in one direction but not in the other, and means for locking said arm, a rod over which the clean towel is carried spring pressed against the tension of the towel and lever mechanism connecting said arm with said locking means whereby on the movement of said arms against the spring tension thereof, said locking means is released.

WM. L. SYLVESTER. 

